Emotional Silence Part II
by Nakira.Taisho
Summary: Part II! What'll happen now? read on dear friends! ON HIATUS
1. Recap

**Emotional Silence Part II 0- Recap**

Uchiha Karin's hair is longer, reaching to her ankles, with a white streak at the front (Sort of like Rogue from X-Men), worn in a high ponytail. Wears a more gothic style than before, black corset dress with black, skin tight, shorts underneath that barely show under the miniskirt, black combat boots that reach her knees and conceal a pair of daggers and a set of needles, and elbow length, fingerless gloves with the Uchiha insignia on top of her hands. Wears black eye shadow and black lipstick, along with black nail polish. With her looks, she looks like a thinner, way more feminine and Goth, version of Sasuke.

With Orochimaru's cursed seal released, her skin darkens and hair turns completely white, while her arms turn into wings, she looks sort of like a person in the middle of transforming into a raven, without the size difference. The pattern that covers her skin is diamonds, and it starts from her right wrist. When she's worried about, or planning on, changing into this form, she removes her gloves.

She was kidnapped by Orochimaru in an attempt to get Sasuke to come to him. Neji and part of her old team came to rescue her, but Orochimaru showed up and she decided to stay in order to protect them. For the entire time, she tried to find a way to leave and go home without hurting herself or using so much energy in the effort that she didn't make it home. She learned to suppress and control the mark but couldn't get the pain that came with it to go away. When Sasuke went to Orochimaru, she was kept away from Sasuke and they were only allowed to see each other for moments at a time, in passing.

She's stated to her 'handler' that she would willingly protect anyone that tried to come for her and kill whoever attacked them if their lives were in danger. Because of her short temper, everyone in Orochimaru's hideouts, except Orochimaru himself, is terrified of her and try not to make her mad. She has also developed her Fire Dancing and has learned to summon fire at will and accidentally summons it when she is angry. She can also change the color of the fire based on her mood. Blue for happy, which is rare; red, for anger, which is most of the time; purple, for sadness, which is quite a bit of the time that she isn't angry; and white, for other emotions. The highlight at the front of her hair also changes with her mood, the same as the fire. The streak developed after an experiment that Kabuto and Karin performed on her, trying to harness and copy the sharingan. She is now 16 years old.


	2. Second Rescue

**Emotional Silence Part II 1- Second Rescue**

"There you are, Yuzu."

"Karin-sama, why do you remain in this vile place?" I look at the wall.

"That is not your concern, Yuzu. Did you relay the message to Sasuke?"

"Yes, ma'am, I did."

"Good. Thank you." Yuzu disappears and I sit down on the bench. This is annoying. I hate it here, but it uses too much energy to ignore the pain, keep the mark suppressed, and run at the same time. I can't leave. Not until someone manages to kill Orochimaru. I just hope that the next time I see Sasuke; it will still be him and not Orochimaru.

"Plotting another escape attempt?"

"No, Karin. I'm just thinking." She nods. I hate her, but she's the only one at this hideout to talk to. Orochimaru won't let me and Sasuke anywhere near each other for more than a moment at a time.

"Have you gotten that jutsu of yours finished?" I nod.

"Yea, wanna see how deadly it is?" She nods.

"Yea, but not against me. Our scouts have spotted a group of four from Konoha coming our way."

"No."

"Still attached to home?"

"I don't want to be here; of course I'm still attached."

"You said that your goal is revenge against this guy named Deidara. You won't be able to beat him if you keep your attachments."

"Quit quoting my brother. It makes me sick." I hate it when she does that, and I know that my stupid bangs are starting to turn red.

"Let's go take care of the intruders, shall we?" I roll my eyes.

"Fine, just don't be surprised if I get in the way when you attack them. If their lives are put in danger, you'll be the one dead."

"Okay, no need for death threats here, Uchiha-san." We walk outside and watch. I can hear footsteps. Four figures emerge from the shadows and I glare at Karin, my bangs are completely red now, bright, vibrant red. I'm that pissed at her.

*Neji's POV*

Maybe we finally found her.

"Hey, there are two people outside, just standing there." We get a bit closer and I can tell. I'd know her anywhere.

"It's her."

"Great, we can grab her and go."

"No, there's someone with her."

"Hey Neji, why wouldn't she come home? You never told us."

"I don't want to talk about it. It just matters that we've found her." It's been three and a half years since then.

"They've spotted us." I nod. And she's glaring at the girl with her.

"Karin! Just…let's just go."

"Uchiha-san! We haven't had any fun in a while!" Fun?

"Not against them! Now get inside before I show you exactly the effects of my new jutsu with all the intimate workings of my hand!"

"Whoa, stop."

"What?"

"She's arguing with the other girl."

"Get back inside, Karin. _Now_." Fire comes up around Karin.

"Oh god."

"NOW!" The other girl runs inside and the fire recedes.

"Karin-san!" She turns and smiles at us. I notice that her bangs are red, no blue. What the heck? She runs up to me and hugs me.

"I'm so sorry!"

"We came back for you." Karin kisses my cheek, and I notice that her bangs have turned white. That's really strange.

"That's what I'm apologizing for. I _can't_ leave."

"Who's stopping you?"

"It's complicated." I stare at her.

"How so?"

"We'll start back. You can catch up right?" I look at them and nod. Tenten smiles and pulls Lee and Gai back.

"What's wrong?"

"It takes too much energy to suppress both the pain and that mark."

"So…you're stuck here then?" She nods; her bangs are slowly turning purple now.

"I'm so sorry, Neji. Really."

"When did you stop using my last name?"

"When you stopped using mine."

"Oh." That makes sense.

"I can't stay out here for very long."

"So take me inside. I'm not leaving you again."

"Do you have a death wish? If it weren't for the fact that Karin is terrified of me, she would have run out and attacked you guys on sight! Just…no. You have to go back."

"Is that confusing?"

"What?"

"Her name is Karin as well."

"I get pissed when they don't use my last name. Mostly for that reason."

"I'm _not_ leaving you." She puts her hand on my cheek. She's as tall as I am now.

"Neji…I…I don't _want_ you to leave…but…"

"Karin." She kisses me.

"Just go…please…" She backs up.

"Karin, I'm not."

"Don't make this harder than it already is." I can tell that she's trying to keep herself from crying.

"Karin…wait!" She shakes her head and disappears. I stare at the spot where she just was and sigh. She's not coming back out. I turn and run to catch up with the others.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Let's just get back." I run ahead of them and wipe my face. I'm not going to cry over this. I know that she doesn't want this.

"She's changed a lot."

"Only in looks."

"You know her really well, don't you?"

"Inside and out. We grew up together. She told me just as much as she tells Sasuke."

"I wonder how they're getting along?"

"By the look of it, they aren't around each other."

"Neji, what's wrong?"

"She sent him away again."

"Shut up! You guys can catch up." I run faster and get way ahead of them. She didn't want me to leave.

"_Neji! Leave me and get away from here! Leave, before you end up hurt. Please."_ I can't stand it. She doesn't want me to get hurt because of this, I understand that. But if it really takes that much energy to ignore that pain. She was hurting so much that day…she was holding back screams. I shake my head and keep running.

*Karin's POV*

Damn! "Hey, I just got word from the Western Hide out! Rumor is, Orochimaru's dead!"

"Oh joy."

"What are you crying about?"

"None of your damn business Karin!" She backs off immediately, noticing that my bangs are changing from purple to red very quickly.

"So, that guy…the really cute one…he your old boyfriend or something?"

"Why don't you just shut up and leave me the hell alone?" If Orochimaru is dead, then most likely it was Sasuke that did him in. And if Sasuke finished him off, then he thinks that he's strong enough to kill Itachi! And that means that he'll come back for me before he goes home! Wait, if Orochimaru is dead, I can leave on my own! I can go after Neji and go home! I notice blue out of the corner of my eyes and frown. Stupid bangs give away my emotions even worse than my eyes. I can't keep my emotions out of my eyes or my hair now.

"You're not thinking of trying to escape again?"

"I thought I told you to leave me alone!" I separate my body into the familiar birds and fly out of the hideout. I land and recollect myself a ways away, not using the battle technique. I flex my hands. It's not hurting. Can I control the mark still? I concentrate on the mark and the reserve of chakra it seals. The mark starts to spread out from my wrist slightly. I smile and push it back. Much better. I start running towards home, north. This is promising.


	3. The Hebi

**Emotional Silence Part II 2- The Hebi**

*Sasuke's POV*

Suigetsu is getting annoying. He keeps starting and stopping. Stupid, lazy, idiot. It's bad enough that stupid memories came back at that gravesite in the land of waves. I've managed to cut off the feelings associated with my former teammates, but my sister. I can't break that. No matter how much I try.

I think the main reason I'm doing this is because I've only seen her hurt like that twice. And the first time, the pain was inflicted by the brother that taught her almost everything she knew. I wasn't strong enough to protect her. I never have been. She's always the one protecting me.

We're twins and we should look out for each other, not one protect the other because he isn't strong enough to protect himself. That's how it's always been. She was the more talented and the stronger of the two of us.

We get to the Southern Hideout and look around. Looks like the sentries are off duty. If word has spread, then I'm sure that Nee-chan would have come directly out to attack me. I think she's pretty pissed at me for what I did. We go inside and walk down the hall. The prisoners start yelling about me coming to set them free.

"I knew it was you two."

"Where's Uchiha-san?"

"She disappeared." So she left.

"When?"

"Just after word got here about Orochimaru. Her hair was actually blue." That's a surprise. It turns blue for a moment when she sees me usually then turns red immediately when she realizes that we won't get to talk. I was hoping that she would still be here. But she never wanted to be here in the first place, so I don't blame her.

"What happened?" Karin shrugs.

"The sentries spotted a team from Konoha and we went out to play." Nee-chan would never hurt anyone from Konoha.

"Who were they?"

"You're real curious about this."

"My sister's involved, of course I'm curious."

"I don't know really. A couple of weirdo guys in green jumpsuits, a girl, and a really cute guy with weird eyes."

"Well, that tells us a lot, Karin."

"It's enough."

"You know who they are?"

"Her team."

"What?"

"You heard me."

"She was on a team with those weirdoes?"

"Transferred to that team, yes. She originally was in the team with me."

"OH!"

"That's not why we came here though." Part of the reason. When I said Karin, I meant my sister not this girl. Nee-chan is twice as good a tracker as this Karin.

"What?"

"I want you to join me." I was planning on begging Nee-chan to come, but I'm not so thrilled about this now.

"Why should I? I'm in charge here!"

"Orochimaru is gone."

"I've got responsibilities! What about the prisoners?" This is annoying.

"Suigetsu, go and liberate every prisoner in the compound." There, she doesn't have an excuse not to come. There has to be a sensory ninja on my team, Konoha is getting more serious about finding me and Karin. If word spreads outside of the hideouts, they'll start looking for me in force.

"You and that commanding tone of voice."

"Don't you dare!" Suigetsu gets up and leaves the room.

"There's no more need for a warden. And with my sister gone, you don't have a charge. You don't have to stick around. What do you say?" How the heck am I supposed to find another sensory ninja? I can't use the birds, the scrolls only react to Nee-chan's blood and chakra.

"I say no thanks! I have no reason to join you!" If I make it look like I'm going to get someone else, maybe she'll come. I really don't want to waste time trying to locate someone useful.

"Fine. If you're not interested, I'll go find someone else." She walks to the door and locks it. Oh great, I'm locked in a room with a fan girl. This is worse than being on the same team as one of the worst of them.

"Okay, I'll come." Got her, now the problem is that she's freaking hormonal. "If you really want me to, Sasuke…I will follow you." She takes her glasses off and sits beside me. I'm resisting slapping her.

"What are you doing? Are you always this impulsive?" She leans closer to me. Oh great, I have to get her away.

"No. I've put a lot of thought into this. You're right. I'm fed up with guarding this place anyway." The door rattles. Please let that be Suigetsu about to break down the door. Karin creeps closer to me, trying very badly to flirt and try to snag a kiss.

"Hey…get back."

"Listen…why don't we do this alone? Just the two of us? Suigetsu won't do anything for you, not really." Finally! Suigetsu cuts through the door and steps in. Karin backs off immediately and puts her glasses back on.

"C'mon Sasuke. Let's go. I take it Karin is staying here?" I wish. After that display. No emotion. I have to keep my face blank.

"Actually, it looks like she's coming after all."

"Where did you get that idea?! I…I just happen to be going the same way…along the same road…um…"

"Oh yea? Well, that works out okay. We can go halfway, then."

"Sure, fine, halfway." This will be interesting after all.

"Now…for Jugo."

"What?! Jugo?! You're not throwing him in?"

"Does it matter? You're not joining us anyway."

"Well…wait, you wanna piece of me?! C'mon then!" I roll my eyes and we start for the Northern Hideout.

*Karin's POV*

I stop to rest for a moment and look back. Three people are running towards me. Who the heck? I notice a few defining things, the shape of one of them, a loose shirt and by the glare, it's probably white, with a rope belt and loose pants, the giant sword strapped to another's back, the executioner's blade that Momochi Zabuza used, and the defining red hair of Karin. They get closer and I gasp. I look around for an escape, but it's too late. The one in loose clothes, Sasuke, waves at me. I wave back nervously and start running.

"Nee-chan!" I stop. Sasuke recognized me, shit.

"Hi…"

"Great, we caught up with you. You wanna come with me?"

"Are you going home?"

"No."

"Then, no." I know that my bangs are red by now. I'm pissed again. And just when I was getting used to my bangs staying blue for more than a moment. I turn and start running again. I'll eventually get home. They catch up with me. "You're going to follow me aren't you?"

"Maybe." I roll my eyes and stop.

"Then you can go on your way. I'm not moving from here until you're out of my sight."

"That was harsh, Uchiha-san." I glare at the guy.

"Suigetsu, right? Shut up and mind your own business."

"Both of you need to stay out of this." I glare at Sasuke. Karin backs away from us and pulls Suigetsu with her.

"What?"

"Unless you wanna get burned, stay back."

"Oh."

"We haven't been able to talk in a while."

"That's not my fault."

"You're mad at me still?"

"For what? Abandoning the village and nearly killing your best friend?! Yea, I'm still _pissed_ at you about that! And you forced information out of the birds! Why would you do something like that?"

"Nee-chan, clam down before something explodes…"

"No! I won't calm down!" Flames start to rise around my feet and he backs up slightly.

"Nee-chan…"

"What?! If you keep screwing up and making stupid decisions, I'm going to have to clean you up with a mop and then explain to our parents when I die why I didn't stop you!"

"You're not strong enough to protect us both!"

"Well, you couldn't seem to pick up the slack and make up for that!" He flinches.

"Have you just been holding this in for years?"

"Yea, I have! And I'm tired of trying to protect someone that obviously doesn't want to be helped! I'm going to let you screw up on your own and go home!" The flame is circling around me, creating a ring of fire that goes to my waist.

"Nee-chan…"

"What? Are you going to make some excuse? I'm through, Sasuke."

"I…no, I'm not. Bye." He starts walking again.

"You have anger issues." I look at Suigetsu. He flinches at my glare and follows Sasuke.

"You wanna say something too, Karin?" She shakes her head and runs after them.


	4. Home at Last

**Emotional Silence Part II 3- Home At Last**

I see the trees! I can see the forest that marks the Land of Fire! Just a little further! I stop and hide in a bush. I heard something. I reach in my boot and prick my finger on a needle. Art of Summoning, Black Bird of the Uchiha! Yuzu appears in front of me and looks around.

"Wow. No inter hideout messages?"

"No. I want you to go straight to the Hokage and tell him that I'm coming."

"Yes Karin-sama." He flies off and I check the area. The rustle I heard was just a forest critter. Yuzu should get there just before I do. I get to the village gate and look around.

"I'm finally home." My bangs are blue now. I had calmed down enough for them to be white, but now I'm too happy about being home! I scale the wall and look around. I can see, from this spot, Hinata-san! And she's with Inuzuka, is that Akamaru? That little dog got big! That other guy must be Aburame. Is Kurenai-san pregnant? She certainly looks like it!

And then, I can see the pineapple hair of Nara and he's with Chouji. That guy's huge! I jump across the rooftops to the office building and go inside. "Excuse me, I haven't been around in a while. Who's the Hokage right now?" I've changed my appearance so I can't be recognized.

"Tsunade, the Legendary Sannin."

"Thank you. Is she in her office? I would like to speak with her." The secretary nods and I walk up to the office. I take a deep breath and knock on the door.

"Come in." I open the door and walk into the room. "Can I help you?" I drop the illusion and she gasps.

"The bird was right! It is you!" I smile.

"In the flesh. Where did Yuzu go?"

"The bird?" I nod. "He disappeared after relaying your message to me."

"Okay."

"You're in luck, I just summoned Naruto and company up here." The door opens and a guy with white hair, I recognize him as Jiraiya, walks into the room.

"Who's this?"

"You remember Uchiha Karin?" He looks me over.

"That's Uchiha Karin?"

"Yes. I don't appreciate being appraised like a piece of meat, Jiraiya-sama!"

"What's up with your hair?" I touch my bangs and pull them so I can see the color, pink, and darkening to red slowly.

"It does that."

"Interesting." The door opens again and more people walk in. I don't want to turn around.

"Please forgive us. Naruto was eating lunch for breakfast."

"Hey, Ero-sennin." Jiraiya turns and smiles.

"Long time no see, Naruto!"

"Who's the chick?" My bangs turn completely red and I turn around.

"It's me, Naruto you idiot!"

"K-Karin-san?" My eye twitches, but then I remember that he always used my first name and I'm not at the Hideout anymore.

"The one and only! Hey! You've gotten taller! You're still shorter than I am though."

"If you're here, what about Sasuke?" My hair turns brighter and I glare at Sakura.

"We're not speaking."

"We've been seeing some Intel floating around multiple channels. We need to talk about it."

"Why do I get the feeling you're about to talk about the rumors about Orochimaru?"

"Because I am. What do you know?"

"The bastard's dead. Sasuke killed him."

"Seriously? For real?" I nod.

"I'm here aren't I?"

"Then that means…"

"I knew Orochimaru couldn't break him! Then Sasuke's coming home to Konoha right?"

"No."

"What?"

"You heard me."

"Why is your hair changing color?"

"It does that with my mood. Stupid hair. What color is it now?"

"It was turning purple, but now it's bright red again."

"Figures."

"Why isn't he coming?"

"He's not with me, is he? I ran into him on my way. That's why we're not speaking. Besides the fact that we only saw each other for moments at a time at the stupid hideout."

"Only one?"

"Yea, my 'handler' was the warden at the southern Hideout. Where they keep the people that they've captured."

"Handler?"

"Yea. Both of us were under constant supervision there. Sasuke was stuck dealing with Orochimaru and I got stuck with psychopath Karin."

"Karin?"

"What? Oh, that's her name. She's the reason why my hair changes colors. She's a real freak with the human experiments."

"What were they trying to do to you?"

"Harness and copy the sharingan."

"Whoa."

"Why wouldn't he come with you then?" I look at the floor.

"He's obsessed with vengeance. He probably plans to track down and kill our brother."

"How does he plan to do that?"

"The team he's assembling. There's Suigetsu from the Mist. He's supposedly the second incarnation of Momochi Zabuza. And he took the sword from Zabuza's grave. Then there's my handler, Karin. She's a very skilled Sensory based ninja who can sense chakra from miles away. And I think they were on their way to the Northern Hideout to get Jugo."

"Who's that?"

"He…was the first of the experiment subjects." I pull my right glove off and turn my hand over.

"That's sort of like that bruise on Sasuke's neck."

"It's the curse mark. And it originated from experiments on Jugo. This…" I partially release the curse mark and my entire right side transforms. "Is a similar version of his second form." I force it to recede and put my glove back on.

"It's different though."

"It's different for everyone. But that's the team he's assembling."

"A sensory ninja, a demon, and the start of that mark?" I nod.

"Yes."

"I know what to do! Let's form a cell and get out there!"

"Even if we succeed in what you're considering, Naruto, it won't bring Sasuke any closer to you. He doesn't care. I saw that first hand. He doesn't even care about me anymore."

"Really?" I nod.

"Still, if we can't track him down, our target should be Uchiha Itachi."

"And what would you do if you found Itachi? Get yourself captured by the Akatsuki, Naruto? They're hunting for you! You and every other Jinchuriki out there! You may have time because they're going to handle the Kyuubi last! But that's not going to stop them from locking you up until they're ready to kill you! It's stupid to try and track down one specific member of that group! And besides that. I've been meaning to send a bird here. I think I've seen the leader of the Akatsuki."

"Really?" I nod.

"Yea. But…I think I should only discuss it with the two of you."

"So, if we're hunting down Itachi. The question is, how to go about it."

"Search. My birds can gather the locations of the various hideouts and we can search them systematically. That's really the only way. But all of the techniques that I know, Itachi will know them and probably be able to use them even more efficiently."

"What about your Fire Dancing?"

"Listen, we're lucky I haven't set this building on fire. It's gotten to the point that I can summon fire without even thinking about it."

"Goes with the Uchiha's fiery personality I guess."

"Kakashi!" He waves at me and then appraises my outfit.

"Wow, Karin." I walk up to him and slap him.

"I'm tired of people appraising me like I'm a piece of meat damn it!" He rubs the side of his face.

"So, what to do with Itachi when we find him."

"Kill Itachi and Sasuke won't have a motive. He'll shut down and go into hiding. The only thing that would even give us a chance of him coming to us would be if we managed to capture Itachi alive. I could incapacitate him with my genjutsu, but he'd probably manage to break it before we could do anything useful against him."

"So we need a group that would be able to get around those and still work well together. People that have worked together in the past. Come on in everyone!" The door opens and Hinata-san's team walks in.

"Who's the chick with the weird hair?"

"Inuzuka!" Fire starts to appear around my feet and in my hands, brilliant red like my bangs.

"What?"

"Idiot, that's Uchiha-san."

"Calm down huh? You don't want to burn down the building."

"I can't control my anger very well."

"Anno, Karin-san…I think that Neji-niisan is in town." The flame turns purple and dies out. I end up crouched and holding back tears.

"What's up with her hair?"

"It does that."

"Anno…Karin-san! I'm sorry!"

"It's okay, Hinata-san. You succeeded in killing the fire." I smile at her and stand up.

"You've gotten really hot, Uchiha-san." I glare at Inuzuka and walk over to him.

"Don't talk like that." I slap him and back up, fuming just below the point of fire appearing again.

"Ow!"

"Serves you right! Will you guys stop making me emotional?! I'm tired of my hair changing colors! I've been tired of that for three years now!"

"Okay, just…calm down." Think about something that won't piss me off. I'm home. I don't have to worry about having my every move watched by Karin. I don't have to worry about having to hurt Neji again.

"I think she's fine now. Her hair is blue."

"Good, that was the color I was trying for. It's hard to keep happy things in mind when I'm being annoyed."

"What's up with your hair anyway?"

"I'm not going into the explanation again. Now, you guys can have fun playing cat and mouse while I actually do something that I've been meaning to do the entire time."

"We should get going anyway." The group leaves the room.

"You mentioned that you may have seen the leader?"

"Yes. And his eyes…they were Rinnegan."

"Rinnegan?" I nod.

"All I could tell from them was that they were from Amegakure and headed in that direction. There was a girl with him. She was wearing a blue rose in her hair. Now, I should go." I have my own goals to fulfill. "Oh, has anyone, by chance, encountered an Akatsuki member named Deidara?"

"Yes, earlier this year. Teams Gai and Kakashi ran into him on a rescue mission."

"What? And he survived?" That's a surprise. Knowing Neji, he would have killed the guy for hurting me. He's about as protective as Sasuke was. Ten years ago, I lost one brother, now I've lost the other. I turn around and leave the office. I run home as fast as I can and run into Neji at the front door to my house.


	5. Searching for Deidara

**Emotional Silence Part II 4- Searching for Deidara**

*Neji's POV*

"Neji!" That voice.

"Karin?" I turn to face her and she smiles at me, her bangs brilliant blue. "Karin!" I run up to her and hug her. "How did you manage?"

"Orochimaru's dead, so it doesn't hurt anymore. And it doesn't take as much effort to keep the mark in check!"

"That's great!" Karin brushes her bangs back and smiles. "What's up with your hair anyway?" She laughs.

"That's the third time someone's asked about my hair. Stupid experiments."

"Okay…"

"It's what I get for having sharingan. There were two of them that were hardcore into the human experiments. And they both did experiments on me, trying to replicate my eyes. This…" She pulls part of her bangs in front of her face and that part of her hair turns red. "Is what happened. I had a hard enough time already with giving away my emotions before my color changing bangs came around."

"The color changes with your emotions?" She nods.

"That and the color of the fire I use. Red for anger, blue for when I'm happy, purple for sadness, and white for other emotions." I nod.

"So right now…" She checks the color and looks at me. Suddenly her hair turns stark white. I laugh. I see what she means by other emotions. Suddenly, she attacks me with a hug.

"I'm so sorry about before!"

"It's okay, Karin." She looks up suddenly. "What?"

"Hold on." She backs up and catches something out of the air. She examines it and throws it back into the air before it explodes.

"What was that?"

"A message bomb. Looks like it found its way here from Deidara."

"You're going to go after him?"

"I can find him now. I plan to kill him." I nod.

"Be careful." She nods and turns into a hundred black birds before flying away. I go home to wait for her.

*Karin's POV*

I feel much better now. I told Neji that I was back and that I was sorry. I'll be back home again when I finish with Deidara. Bombs are an earth style technique, so if I use lightning based attacks against him, I can nullify the bombs and beat him. And since I've managed to somehow master all five changes in chakra nature, though I mostly use fire, I'll be able to trick him into thinking he has an advantage.

I've seen Sasuke use Chidori and I've managed to get enough control of it that I can run it all throughout my body and even push it out in the form of a sword. I spot an Akatsuki, but I can't tell who it is. And there's a guy in a solid black cloak facing him. I land and try to figure out who they are.

"Those robes…" Sasuke! Freaking figures. The Akatsuki is wearing an orange mask that covers all of his face.

"So you're Sasuke, eh? You _do_ look like Itachi." He backs up and hides behind a tree. "Whoa, scary." I look up and see the bird. That's him. The show off. A bomb drops from the bird. Shit. The instinct to protect Sasuke overwhelms me and I rush forward, pushing him out of the way and catching the bomb with a hard kick that sends it flying back into the air before exploding.

"Look who showed up, yea."

"I could say the same for you, Deidara. Who's your new friend? You know, I really don't care!" I reach into my bag and pull out my extendible stave. "I've been waiting for this, Deidara. I'm gonna tear you limb from limb and then burn the pieces."

"Good luck, little girl."

"Get out of the way Sasuke!" I shove past him and rip my right glove off. I shift the stave to my right hand and pull off my other glove, stuffing them in my bag and gathering chakra the entire run. Chidori! I push the attack through my stave and swing it at Deidara. He dodges and tosses a bomb at me. I hit it away with my stave and go at him again. "I'm smarter than you."

"How'd you get so fast?" I throw the stave into the ground and land on top of it, balancing on one foot.

"That's for me to know, and for you to wonder about." I release the mark and fly at him.

"Interesting."

"Quit talking and fight." He dodges me and I get behind him, forcing the mark back enough to give me my hands. "Boo." Fire style, Flaming Blade Rasengan! I push the attack through him and it ends up being a clay doppelganger. Unfortunately for him, I can still manipulate the flames. I jump into the air and attack him. "Fire Dance!"

He blocks two of my kicks from above but I spin around and attack his midsection with fire and my fist. He doesn't manage to block that one and he flies back. I land and smile. There's a strong possibility that I'm still better than Sasuke.

"Damn."

"You won't have time for bombs." I charge the fire with lightning and rush him. "Sparks of Fire!" When I get close enough to him to send the fire flying at him, I aim and start the assault. He flies back and I land again. I push the mark all the way back and grab my stave.

"The bombs are set!" Bombs in the ground? Land mines! I run, pushing Chidori through the soles of my feet into the ground, and stab the ground with my stave, also charged with Chidori, so I can jump into the air and get some distance to get at that giant bomb that Deidara just created. He sends a missile at me and I smile.

"Swirling Vortex of Light!" I use lightning charged fire and create a whirlwind around myself to negate the bomb. I get to the big bomb and start attacking him again. He spits out a giant version of himself. Great. It's loaded with explosives and he just pushed me off the stupid dragon thing.

I catch myself just above the range, under the flying bomb. Perfect. Get out of there Sasuke. At least get up and out of the range. While he's distracted, I jump up behind him and push my hand through him, running wind chakra through to strengthen the attack.

"Gotcha." Nope, damn a clay doppelganger. And my hand's stuck now. He creates a sort of bomb around me. Damn it! It's filled with the same kind of explosive as that other bomb. I run Chidori through my body and push my way out of the thing. He lands and I separate my body.

"Ha! I win! They're both dead!"

"I don't think so." I rearrange myself behind him and punch him.

"How?!"

"Easy, I'm smarter than you are. And I said that I'd kill you. I don't usually break a promise." He growls and rips his shirt off.

"Behold, my ultimate art!" He pulls some stitches out of his chest and another mouth opens up. That's disgusting. He puts a large handful of clay in the mouth and it starts chewing. That's just creepy. What's up with his chakra? It's gathering and becoming a bomb! "I shall detonate myself! Never before has an explosion like this been seen! One that shall scar the very earth itself and receive rave reviews from all my critics! For with my death, I shall become art!!"

He's crazy! I don't have time to nullify that thing before it goes off, and I don't have time to get far enough away, even as birds! The only option is to escape into another dimension; I can use Mangekyou to transport myself to the house. I run through the hand signs and touch the ground, Mangekyou sharingan! Just as he explodes, I send myself through the dimensional hole that I created with my eyes and to the house. I land with a thud in the yard.

"Ow!" I look up and see the explosion. I hope Sasuke got somewhere safe in time. I get up and wince. My vision fades out. Great, the first time I use the Mangekyou in combat and it's already blinded me! Oh well, I can fight using sound alone. I've done it before. I manage to stand up and try to assess my location.

I'm in the front yard and I was facing…the house. So to get outside, I need to turn around and walk out. I take a step and notice something. It looks like ripples. I take another step and I can almost see the yard.

"I wonder…" I can see the yard just by the vibrations! I must still be using sharingan without realizing it. I close my eyes and concentrate. I open my eyes again, it's just as black as before. When I take a step, nothing happens.

That must be the reaction of the sharingan with blindness! While it improves vision exponentially, when blind, I can see the vibrations of sound and it creates the image of the world around me. A bird chirps. I've got this figured out. I stumble out of the yard and to the street. I feel along the fence in the direction of the Hyuuga compound.

"What's wrong with you?" I don't recognize that girl's voice? Who is she?

"Nothing's wrong. Who are you?" I can't use sharingan to get an image.

"None of your business." Impertinent brat. I shrug and keep walking, I stop when I get to the gate. I've never been past here.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes, I…um…do you know where Neji is?"

"Yea, he's at his room. Why?"

"I'm a friend. Would it be possible for someone to get him for me?"

"Just go in yourself. It's the little shack in the far corner closest to the Uchiha place."

"Oh you're very helpful. Care to guide me there? I can't see." I have a feeling my hair just turned from white to red.


	6. Blind

**Emotional Silence Part II 5- Blind**

*Neji's POV*

"Care to guide me there? I can't see."

"What's wrong?" I turn the corner and see Karin at the gate, talking to the gatekeeper. She turns when she hears my voice.

"Just the person I was looking for!" She taps the gate and grips it.

"Karin! What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm fine."

"Come on, let's get you home. You look a mess." And she really does. There's dirt all over her face and skin, and her dress is torn slightly along the bottom.

"I do?" I nod. "Are you still there?"

"Yea, I am." Can she not see me? I take her hand and she smiles, her hair turns from white to blue instantly. "Come on." She nods and we walk to her house. She trips on the step and then struggles with her shoes. I sit down beside her and finish pulling her shoes off for her.

"Thank you."

"What happened?"

"I kicked Deidara's ass."

"I meant to your eyes. Why can't you see?"

"I used the Mangekyou. Did you hear that explosion a few minutes ago?"

"Yes, I was coming out to see what was going on. I remembered that he used bombs and I was worried." She gets up and I help her up to her room. "Do you have a change of clothes?"

"Yea, in my bag."

"This little thing?" She nods and pulls it off. I open it up and stare.

"What?"

"How did you fit all this stuff in here?"

"Very carefully."

"Oh." I pull out an identical outfit to the one she's wearing, only this one's clean.

"Can you help?"

"Um, sure." She turns slightly and I unzip the top of her dress. She smiles and gets up. She walks to the corner and touches the divider. She goes behind it and takes the tattered outfit off.

"Will you hand me the clean one please?"

"Sure." I hand her the clothes and she emerges in a few moments.

"Zip me up?" I zip the dress and she pats herself, checking.

"You look great."

"Thanks." She turns around in my hug and touches my face. "It's strange not being able to see you." I kiss her.

"I don't care if you can see me or not. As long as you're alive."

"I missed you."

"So did I." She puts her head on my shoulder and starts crying. "What's wrong now?"

"Nothing. I've just been holding in a lot of emotions in for the last three years." I hug her tightly and we sit on the bed.

*Karin's POV*

I'm glad that Neji's here. I think I'd go crazy if I wasn't with him as much as possible after all that time. That was the most painful and annoying part of it all. Not being able to leave and come home, and not being able to see the people that I love. I'm happy that he's letting me let this out. It just makes me mad that I can't see. Maybe if I rest my eyes for a while, I'll get my sight back.

"Are you okay?" I nod and sit up.

"I'm fine. Just a bit tired now." I guess I wore myself out in that fight even without using the Mangekyou.

"That fight must have worn you out huh?"

"Yea. Deidara uses bombs, and it takes a lot of chakra to be able to deflect them."

"You're amazing. You know."

"No. I'm not." I'm tired of people telling me that. Ever since I was little, it was always _Great job, Karin, you're so amazing!_ Or, _Karin, that's so cool! You're freaking awesome!_ It aggravates me. The only reason I'm so strong is that I trained so much. Even my own parents always said that I was more talented than Sasuke. But we're talented together.

We always fought together. And he still couldn't catch up to me. Even now, Deidara completely forgot that Sasuke was there. Because he wasn't fighting alongside me. He's always so worried about catching up with me. That's what he told me, before. He told me that he was going to catch up with me and protect himself.

"Why don't you think that?"

"I'm not amazing. I don't understand why people always say that I am. If I hadn't trained so much when I was little, I would be at the same level as the others. There isn't anything amazing about me." Neji puts his hand gently on my cheek.

"You came back from a fight with a guy that used bombs without any more damage to your body than blindness. And that's a side effect of a technique you used. You got promoted to Jounin two months after you graduated and didn't have to take the Chunin exams. You were proctoring the stupid thing! You can plan things so far in advance that you can create a strategy, for every possibility and alter the plan as circumstances change.

"You can freaking control fire without thinking about it! There's a lot more that's amazing about you. But you know? Even if you weren't that amazing when it comes to that, I'd still love you. You're beautiful, and smart, and amazing in your own way. You're yourself, and you're unique. That's all that matters to me." Tears are flowing freely again.

Why does he have to know just what to say to make me feel better? He pulls me towards him and hugs me. We sit like this for a while and someone knocks on the door. I get up and run out of the room, my body knows this house so well that I don't need to see to get to the front door. I stand at the door and sigh.

"Who is it?"

"Uchiha-san, it's Karin. Please let me in. Hurry before someone sees me."

"Go away."

"It's about Sasuke." I clench my fists and open the door.

"Get in." I sit on the couch and pretend to stare ahead. "What?"

"He was injured and none of us are skilled enough with medical Ninjutsu to help."

"It's his own fault."

"He's your brother, Uchiha-san! You're not going to help him?"

"How bad is it?"

"You'll have to see. It's pretty bad. He passed out and hasn't woken up yet."

"Is he still breathing?"

"He was before I came here. Please."

"I told him. I'm through helping him. He wanted to catch up with me, and in the process, he managed to lose my protection. So…I'm done."

"You'd let your own brother die?"

"I want one of them dead. And if the price of my leaving Sasuke alone is his death, then I'll just pick up the slack, like I always have, and kill Itachi myself." I stand up and start for the stairs. She catches my arm and I stop walking.

"You're not lying, are you?"

"I couldn't help him anyway." I pull my arm out of her grip and start walking again. "Get out of here, Karin. Or else." The door opens and closes and I go upstairs.

"She's still here."

"Figures. She doesn't give up on anything." I create a ball of fire in my hand and the door slams open and shut.

"Why aren't you going to help?"

"On the way home, I ran into them. Sasuke and I got into an argument and I told him that I was giving up on trying to protect him. I know it's stupid and I'll probably have problems after I die, but I'm tired of trying to protect him when he doesn't _want_ to be protected."

"Why would you have problems?"

"I…I promised our parents that I would protect him. I've always been the more mature of the two of us. I nearly died, twice, trying to protect him."

"Twice?" I nod and lift my left arm. He takes my hand.

"The scar on my wrist. I usually keep it covered up." He turns my hand over and touches the scar. "I got that when Itachi killed our parents. Remember."

"We were training. And you…got one of your feelings. That someone in your family was in trouble. It was late anyways, so you ran home."

"When I got there…he was going to kill both of us, completely wipe out his family. Sasuke…he wouldn't move…I had to stop Itachi, so I stepped in the way and stopped him.

"I ended up with three broken ribs, my left arm was completely shattered, my right arm was broken in two places, and my right ankle was broken. Along with a crap load of cuts and bruises. The only thing that stopped me from fighting was when I couldn't move any more. Because of the technique that my father taught me to use in a fight. It nullifies the pain and allows me to keep my concentration even though I should be in pain to the point that I wouldn't be able to see through it."

"And this scar?"

"It's the only cut that didn't heal in the first few days."

"I remember you wouldn't leave your house for a week after that and when you finally came out, you were using crutches and your left arm was three inches thick with a cast." I laugh.

"Yea. Now you know why."

"And the second time?"

"It was when we went on our first out of town mission. The client was a bridge builder from Nami no Kuni. And we were escorting him back to his country so he could complete a bridge. On the way, we ended up fighting renegade ninja that were hired by a man that wanted him dead."

"But if you guys were still Genin, you wouldn't have been given a mission with the risk of ninjas being your enemies."

"The guy lied about his request, because he didn't have the money to afford the price of a B-rank mission or higher. Well, one of the enemies that we faced was Momochi Zabuza. I broke three ribs in the first encounter. We were about to win and…well, I'm not sure about the details because I had used so much chakra during the fight that I had passed out.

"But he came back and had a guy about the same age as we were with him. Kakashi fought Zabuza and Sasuke took on the kid, his name was Haku, I think. Well, things progressed in the fight and Haku used a technique that created a cage of ice mirrors. And well, Naruto the idiot ran in and got caught. I tried to help and got caught as well. It ended up that Haku attacked Naruto and Sasuke got in the way. Well, I pushed him out of the way and took the attack. Haku fought using needles and he had pretty good aim. He hit almost every vital point in my body. I'm surprised I survived it."

"Wow. What happened after that?"

"Well, I woke up and…that was the second time that I almost lost him."

"You really don't want him to die, do you?"

"No, but…I have a feeling that he'll be fine."


	7. Painful Memories

**Emotional Silence Part II 6- Painful Memories**

"_Again, Uchiha-san!"_

"_Karin, we've been working on this for hours! I'm running out of chakra fast."_

"_You don't like needles and we have to put you under for the experiment. So, we need to wear you out and when you pass out, we'll start." I glare at her._

"_You're evil."_

"_It's orders and I'm curious about those eyes of yours." Fine, if she wants me to fight and wear myself out, so be it. I'll kick her ass in the process. I gather chakra into my hands and feet and start running at her, summoning fire as I run. Now to try to charge it with Chidori._

"_Sparks of Fire!" I manage one hit before the attack fizzles out. Not enough chakra to use both changes in nature. I duck and use Rasengan. She slams into the wall and wipes blood off of her chin. I drop to my knees, exhausted, and she nods. Someone comes up from behind me and hits the back of my neck, knocking me out._

_I open my eyes and look around. Am I still in the lab? I spot Kabuto in a corner, cleaning his tools. There isn't any blood anywhere, usually when I wake up after an experiment, this is the third time they've tried to copy my eyes, I'm sore and there's blood spattered on the tray._

_I'm not sore, I just feel drugged, which means I probably am. Kabuto turns around and walks to the tray, carrying his tools. It looks like the anesthetic isn't working on me anymore. This means…oh shit. I start using my battle jutsu and brace myself for this. I can tell when I'm being hurt; it just doesn't hurt until after I release the jutsu._

"_Sorry, but it doesn't look like the anesthetic I gave you is working. You'll have to endure this." He takes a strange thing and uses it to hold my eye open. That's uncomfortable. Next, he takes a syringe and sticks my eye with the needle. He sets that aside and sighs._

"_I brought it! You started already?"_

"_Good. And yes." Karin hands him a syringe and bottle. He fills the syringe and there's a slight poke on my arm. My body starts to go numb from that point and it doesn't take long for the stuff to knock me out. I wake up in my room, with my head spinning._

"_Ugh. What the hell was that stuff?" I look up and gasp. The person in the mirror isn't me. Or at least, I don't think so. I touch my bangs, the mirror reflects the movement. That's weird!_

_The front of my hair is white! I touch the back of my head and frown. They braided my hair again. I start unbraiding my hair and catch a glimpse of red in the mirror. My bangs are red now. What the hell?_

_I wonder…I try to concentrate on something. Neji! My bangs turn purple. Let's see, I'm sort of sad because I had to push him away the last time I saw him. But when I get out of here, I can see him! And maybe he'll forgive me for that! And maybe we can even…I blush and my hair turns blue. So blue, I was happy just then…red, I was angry when that showed up…purple, I was sad at that moment…and white, which must be the neutral color. That's strange. Is this a side effect of the experiment?_

I sit abruptly and look around. It's pitch black. Where am I? Someone takes my hand and squeezes it.

"Karin, calm down. We're in your room, at your house."

"Neji?"

"Yea. Are you okay?" I nod.

"Yea. I guess…"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just a bad dream."

"Just a dream?"

"Yea, otherwise, I'm fine." He touches my cheek. "Have you stayed here the whole time?"

"Yea, I have. I'm not leaving you alone." I smile.

"Thank you." I lay back down and he kisses my forehead.

"I'll be right here."

"Neji…"

"What?" I'm sure my face is horribly red right at this moment.

"Um…"

"I love you too. Get some rest okay."

"Okay."

"_Looks like this week they're here."_

"_Who?"_

"_Didn't I tell you already? Orochimaru-sama and Sasuke. They're almost here."_

"_Sasuke?!"_

"_Yea." How is that possible? I thought that he would have stayed home!_

"_What is he doing with Orochimaru?"_

"_You should be more respectful when you talk about him."_

"_I'll talk about him however I want, Kabuto!" My bangs are turning red and I'm about ready to start killing and taking names._

"_You're a bitchy little kid aren't you?"_

"_Just shut up and tell me what my idiot brother is doing with Orochimaru!"_

"_He came on his own, abandoned Konoha and I think he killed the Kyuubi Jinchuriki." Naruto!_

"_What?! Why would he do that? Naruto's his friend! Or at least that's what I thought anyways." Why would Sasuke kill his friend? He's not like that!_

"_He wants to get stronger and this is the quickest path."_

"_How so? You know what, I don't care. I'll just talk to him when they get here."_

"_That's not possible." I glare at him._

"_Why not?!"_

"_You've already attempted to escape twice since you got here. You're not allowed to see him." I cross my arms and fume. He's really pissing me off. Karin looks up._

"_They're here." Kabuto gets up and leaves. "Sorry. I know you want to see your brother."_

"_Bug off."_


	8. The Stronger Twin

**Emotional Silence Part II 7- The Stronger Twin**

*Sasuke's POV*

I sit up slightly. That explosion really took it out of me. I wonder if Nee-chan got away. Knowing her, she probably did. We've been in the same place for too long. Konoha is working to find me, probably against Nee-chan's warnings that they won't find me.

She's still stronger than I am. That's the second time she's had to rescue me from that guy. I can never seem to keep up with her. Every time I start to think I've caught up and gotten as strong as she is, she surprises me again and comes out the stronger twin. I guess I really was the only one that Orochimaru could handle.

Itachi was definitely too strong for him, and beside the fact that Nee-chan is a girl; she would have been able to kill him the first time he made eye contact probably. I'm the weakest one, so the only one that he could have even tried to get. The jutsu that she was using before, in that fight. She was using at least one element the entire time.

She used Chidori and even took the Rasengan and added her fire based chakra to it to create that one attack. She was combining lightning with fire and even wind and fire. That's impossible. It's impossible to be able to strongly use so many different chakra natures. And I've seen her use some pretty powerful water techniques, even stronger than Kakashi's copied techniques. It was like she actually has all five elements running through her chakra.

"What's taking that girl so long? How long does it take to pick up supplies?" Karin _has_ been gone for quite a while.

"Jugo! I'm gonna go check on Karin. Do me a favor and try to control yourself." Suigetsu gets up and starts for the door. I can hear running steps.

"Sure, no problem." The door crashes down and Karin runs into the room. The expression on her face, they're getting close.

"Wake up Sasuke!"

"What?!"

"We're going to have company…so what now?!"

"Everyone get ready. We're leaving. Jugo, mark the map with the location of every Akatsuki hideout you learned about." I get up and pull the patch off of my cheek. We get ready and leave the building. "You sure you're okay Sasuke?"

"Yea. I've been healing a lot faster since I absorbed Orochimaru's power." I'm still covered in bandages, but I can manage. I really wish that Nee-chan had come to help. I told Karin to find her and ask for help just before I passed out after that explosion.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Deidara showed up and she reacted. It always just seemed to be an instinct for her to jump in to protect me. "Whether it's Konoha or Akatsuki, they might have Intel on Itachi. Might be wise to lay low and then ambush them. What do you think, Sasuke?"

"If they're coming in force, it's Konoha. The Akatsuki only operate in pairs."

"Ambushing them would be a waste of time."

"Right. Leave Konoha be."

"So what's the plan?"

"Itachi is our only priority. Once we locate him, worst comes to worst, you three take care of Konoha. But first, team Hebi, we use Jugo's Intel and hit those Akatsuki hideouts one by one."

"Fine."

"Let's go." We start walking. I look up. A bird? "Jugo, do you know that bird?" He looks at the bird.

"No." I nod and hold up my hand. The bird flies straight to me and lands on my wrist.

"Sasuke-sama."

"What do you want, Kasha?"

"I have a message for you from Karin-sama."

"Go ahead."

"She specifically said to relay the message to you in private, Sasuke-sama." I nod and walk to the trees.

"Now?"

"The message is that she intends to come to you once I leave."

"That's all?"

"No sir. That was the main part of the message. She wanted me to warn you that she is currently unable to see."

"I suppose you won't tell me why?"

"She intends to speak with you when she arrives."

"Thank you Kasha." The bird disappears and I walk out of the trees. Karin gasps and I turn around. Nee-chan assembles herself and smiles.

"Found you."

"Why did you send Kasha? You could have just found me."

"I needed her to see for me. It's harder to look for stuff when you can't see anything. We're not alone." She's using sharingan, if she can't see, I wonder why. "Let's see, that big guy must be Jugo. Nice to meet you!"

"Nee-chan, what's wrong with you?" Her hair is white, so I have no idea what's going on.

"I came to check on you, for one. Neji finally managed to remind me that I really do care about what happens to you. And I also wanted to warn you."

"About what?"

"Well, for one, Naruto and company are searching for you."

"Who all?"

"Let's see, Naruto, Hinata, Inuzuka, Aburame, Sakura, that guy that's supposed to be filling your spot, Kakashi, and that other guy…I forget his name."

"So, them. Then it's understandable that they've found us."

"What?"

"We're about to move on."

"You're still looking for him?!"

"Yea."

"Do you have any idea where you're looking?" I hold up the map and she frowns. "I hear paper rustling, but I can't see what it is."

"A map. We've located and marked most of the hideouts."

"Steer away from Amegakure. That's where the strongest of them are. You'll get yourself killed."

"Thanks."

"I should get going. Be careful."

"Sure thing. Oh, thanks."

"For what?"

"Saving me, again."

"You're welcome. See you." She disappears and a small flock of black birds flies away.

"What was that all about?" Nee-chan is playing a very dangerous game right now. She gave me that information. And when she got back to the village, she was probably still pretty pissed at me. She probably told them almost everything she knows about these three.

"Hello! Earth to Sasuke!"

"She came to warn me."

"Of what?"

"Let's get going."

*Kiba's POV*

That's strange.

"What's up?"

"Isn't Karin-san supposed to be at the village?"

"That's where she should be, yes."

"Then why is her scent getting really strong?" A flock of black birds flies past us and her scent starts to fade. I concentrate on Sasuke's scent and grit my teeth.

"What now?"

"Sasuke's on the move!"

"Then we better hurry! He's probably going after Itachi!"

"He's not!"

"Karin-san! What are you doing?!"

"Following you guys! Or at least, I'm trying to. You were disrupting my vision!" What is she talking about?

"Hey wait! Sasuke's scent is scattering!" Karin catches up with me and Akamaru.

"That's probably Karin's doing. That little perv probably got hold of some of his dirty clothes and ripped them up. She knows enough about tracking that she would know that you guys are using scent to track them." She seems worried about something, her hair is turning purple. She stops running. "If you want to find him that bad, you should split up." I look back and see birds fluttering where she was just standing.

"Our comms aren't long range; if we split up they'll be useless! I'm the only one that can track him and I don't know which scent to follow!"

"Then there's only one thing to do!" Naruto creates a bunch of doppelgangers and split up.

*Karin's POV*

Why am I doing this? I'm playing a double spy. I just gave Sasuke vital information on avoiding them, and then I turned around and gave them vital information to find him. I fly around, following the connection that I have with Sasuke. That's how we know when the other twin is in trouble or upset.

We have a strange connection in our chakra and blood that allows us to feel the other. That's how I knew he would be okay before. That feeling. He wasn't in danger of dying, so it didn't bother me. I've actually managed to sense and use that connection on my own. And I can follow him. I'm using sharingan, so I can sort of see things. I land and rest for a moment. I can hear someone in the trees and on the ground. Who would have thought that an ocular ability would increase you hearing ability?! I start flying again, following Sasuke. I don't need to know who those people are. This is a real pain in the rear, not being able to see.


	9. Family Reunion

**Emotional Silence Part II 8- Family Reunion**

*Sasuke's POV*

We get to the first point on the map.

"So just past here huh? You wait here until I give the order. I'm going to go take a look." I start into the hideout carefully. I have no idea who, or what could be hiding in here.

'_Proceed with caution, Sasuke.'_ That's Nee-chan's voice! In my mind?

'_What's going on?'_ I hear fluttering and look around.

'_Above you. We need to talk. Now.'_ I look up and lock eyes with a black bird using sharingan. That's her. I walk further in and look around a rock. There's a large cave around this bend. And it looks like there might be someone here. I walk around the stone and into the cave.

"So, you've come at last." That voice is familiar, but I can't place it with a name.

"Who…who are you?" There's a bird on that guy's shoulder. I wonder.

"It's me. Sasuke." He opens his eyes and I see the sharingan. Immediately, I start using mine. I don't get it though, what bird is that. It might be Yuzu. That's the only bird that both of them can summon. "You look taller."

"And you haven't changed at all. Cold, and emotionless." Nee-chan materializes and leans on the rock wall.

"An ambush by both the twins?"

"This was completely unplanned. And even then, it's Sasuke's job to kill you. I've already gotten what I want." She's looking right at him, even though she said she couldn't see.

"You look just like our weakling mother."

"Don't talk about the dead disrespectfully. That could earn you a straight ticket to torture in the afterlife. Oh, by the way, you still suck at doppelgangers."

"How can you tell?"

"There are subtle differences. And besides. I've mastered the sharingan to the point that I've managed some pretty powerful uses of the Mangekyou."

"So that's why you can't see." She straightens up and disappears.

"I can see well enough in battle. I'll let you boys handle yourselves." I take the chance and appear behind him, to use my Chidori Blade to attack him from behind.

*Karin's POV*

So much for talking to Sasuke there. Damn Itachi. It sounds like Sasuke's fine. I can't figure out what kind of doppelganger that was though. I hear chirping, then a thud.

"You've gotten stronger." Now I can hear the flapping of wings. "Meet me at the Uchiha hideout. Alone. We'll settle this there."

"Sasuke!!"

"I thought I told you all not to move until I gave the order."

"Karin said she sensed another chakra here. We got worried."

"Feathers?"

"Was it Uchiha-san?"

"No. Follow me. We're leaving."

"What's wrong?"

"She was here. But there's something strange about her eyes." I change forms and fly out of the cave and back to the village.

"There you are! I've been looking all over town! Where did you go?"

"I went to do something. Sorry I didn't let you know."

"I was worried about you." I smile.

"You don't have to worry about me Neji. I may not be able to see, but I can still handle myself." I tap my foot and the vibration allows me to see him nod. He takes my hand and we start walking to the house. "I can walk on my own, Neji…"

"Huh? Why are you using sharingan?"

"Because, I was flying and I can't fly if I can't at least see a little. I can see the vibrations of sound, it's pretty interesting."

"So you can see me right now?" I nod.

"Yep. Barely. I can see as long as there is some sort of noise to create vibrations."

"Oh. What were you doing anyway?"

"Testing a theory."

"Okay…"

"You're confused?"

"Yea, just a little."

"Well, you know how I've always just sort of been able to know if something's going on with Sasuke?"

"Yea." He's getting used to talking and nodding at the same time, knowing that I can't usually see him. "Um, can you stop using sharingan please?"

"Yea, it's taking more of an effort right now anyway." The images in my mind disappear and he takes my hand again. "Now, my theory. I spent a while working on this while I was…gone…before, and I figured out how to strengthen that feeling. I could already tell if he was okay or not no matter how far away he was, but I managed to actually find a way into his mind. I know it sounds weird, but I can't see what he's thinking, just what he sees. Like with the birds."

"Right, you said you can communicate with your birds from a distance using thoughts. So…now you can do that with Sasuke?" I nod.

"Yea." I lift my head and hold out my hand. I heard Yuzu. "What's wrong? You were supposed to keep an eye on Naruto and them."

"They just ran into trouble. And I also caught a glimpse of something interesting through Itachi-sama."

"What? What happened, to both parties."

"Naruto and company just ran into an Akatsuki in an orange mask. He has a strange chakra that's similar to an Uchiha. And Sasuke-sama and Itachi-sama are about to get into their big fight."

"An Uchiha?! Show me!"

"Hai!" An image of the forest appears in my mind. A fallen tree and that guy with the orange mask, Deidara's partner, is standing on top of it. "Go back, check it out. Report back via thought."

"Yes ma'am!" The weight on my hand vanishes and I lower my arm.

"What's going on?"

"I need to speak with Tsunade-sama."

"Okay." Neji takes my hand and we run through the village.

"I need to go in alone."

"I'll be right here."

"Thank you." I go inside the room.

"Uchiha-san! What's wrong?"

"Where's Tsunade-sama?"

"Right here."

"Sorry, I can't see."

"What brings you here?"

"It's urgent. About the Akatsuki."

'_Karin-sama, I've got a visual on your brothers, do you want to watch?'_

"What about them?"

'_No, Yuzu. Keep me posted on the fight though. If there is any sign that Sasuke is in danger of dying, I'll be on the move.'_

"The leader. I think I've figured it out."

"What do you mean?"

'_Yes Ma'am. It would appear the Akatsuki is using the Uchiha fighting style as well as having a similar chakra. I recognize the pattern it's Madara!_'

"I know who the leader is."

'_Are you sure it's him?_'

"Well?"

'_Positive. He must be the leader. There's no way even a Rinnegan user would be able to defeat that man.'_

"Uchiha Madara."

"But that's impossible!"

"I have a bird on the watch, and he's been around as long as that man has been alive. And an Uchiha bird never forgets the chakra that originally bound them to the family. And the man with that chakra is engaging Naruto and company in battle."

'_Playing with them. He's dodging every attack like they're idiots without aim! And your brothers seem to be fighting using genjutsu alone.'_

"What?"

'_Yuzu, send a bird to Amegakure, search for the man with Rinnegan._'

"Karin-san, what is wrong with your eyes?"

"I'm not sure. What does it look like? I can't quite see for myself, you know."

'_Already on it. The men with Rinnegan just defeated Jiraiya, the Toad Sage._'

"Your eyes…they look like ripples on water."

"How so?"

"From the pupil out, there are rings in your eyes that look like ripples in the water. Like…Rinnegan."

'_Yuzu, are you sure about Jiraiya-sama? I'm in a discussion with Tsunade and since he was her teammate, she needs to know!_'

"That's impossible. I saw a Rinnegan user with my own eyes. That gift is so rare that it's only heard of in legends!"

'_I'm positive, Karin-sama. He just plunged under water and isn't coming up. There were six blades in his back and there is no mistake that he is dead._'

"Something wrong? Your hair's changing color."

"To what color?"

"Purple."

"One of my birds just contacted me, he's keeping a watch on the Akatsuki hideout in Amegakure. Jiraiya was defeated by the Rinnegan user."

"What?!" She sounds shocked.

'_Karin-sama! Sasuke-sama is shaking! There's something wrong over there!'_ My eyes hurt. I put a hand to my eye and grit my teeth.

'_Get out of the way, Yuzu. I need to see what he's seeing._'

"What's wrong with you?" I shake my head and concentrate on Sasuke. No!


	10. Brothers

**Emotional Silence Part II 9- Brothers**

*Sasuke's POV*

"Your fate has been drenched in blood! Since the day you were born an Uchiha! Now face me, my little brother! Once I kill you, I'll be transformed. I'll be freed from this wretched clan's destiny!" I close my eyes. This is absurd.

"If it's a transference of the Mangekyou, you should target Karin then. She's the one that went blind from it." He stops.

"What?"

"She trained with the Mangekyou and used it so much trying to master its power, she went blind after the first real fight using it. The flaw in the sibling logic is that twins have never been recorded in the clan." I pull the bandage off of my forehead and toss my cloak to the side. "You want this unlimited power, but wouldn't you need both of us, the eyes of both twins to get that? It all ends here."

"She's always been the stronger twin. You still don't stand a chance against me, no matter how strong you've gotten. You can't beat me because you don't have the Mangekyou. Your goal is still an illusion."

"Illusion or not, with hatred, I'll make the illusion a reality. And that reality is your death."

*Karin's POV*

No! That's impossible.

"Karin-san?"

"I'm fine."

'_Karin-sama are you going to move?_'

"Are you sure?"

'_No. We'll see how this goes. If I finish here, I'll take care of Madara and then go after my brothers.'_ "Yes, I'm sure."

"That's bugging me."

"What?"

"Your eyes."

"Tsunade-sama. I'm going to go after him."

"NO! You wouldn't stand a chance against someone like that!"

"Watch me."

"Karin-san, it's a suicidal idea! If you go, you'll get yourself killed!"

"I know the secrets of the sharingan. Madara taught my older brother, and so in a way, he taught me as well. I am the only surviving member of the clan that can summon all of the Uchiha Birds, and besides Itachi, I am the only one that can use the Mangekyou sharingan. I may have been blinded by it, but for some reason, when I'm using my sharingan, I can see using sound. I have mastered powerful use of all five elements and am able to combine them at will. Years wear on any person, immortal or not, and the weakness of age can easily be defeated by a stronger mind. I _won't_ lose." My hand flies to my face. My eye!

'_Yuzu! What happened to Sasuke?!'_ This pain. Where is it coming from? I've never felt pain along with Sasuke before!

'_Sasuke-sama's eye was just gouged out by Itachi-sama!'_ I can't take on Madara like this. I have to help Sasuke first.

'_I'm on my way!'_ I separate my body and fly as fast as I can to my brothers. I get there and stop. The pain is gone. Was it an illusion? I'm here. I may as well assist. Sasuke can't do anything without my help. No. This is his fight. He's fine. I fly to Naruto and the others.

"Naruto! Get out of the way!" I assemble myself and jump out of the tree. "Flaming Blade Rasengan!" I ram the attack at Madara, he manages to dodge and I swing around. "Swirling Vortex of Light!" Lightning charged fire engulfs my enemy, I can tell by the air around me. I land and the flames fizzle out. They were probably purple, I still haven't gotten over the loss of Jiraiya, or the chance that I won't make it home alive.

"Karin! What are you doing here?"

"Helping!"

"Nice shot, Karin-san." I close my eyes and concentrate. I have about half a second to do this. Time for that new jutsu. I jump into the air and get a visual using my lookout bird. Good. Fire in my right hand, wind in my left. I gather the two chakras into the form of a sphere, then switch natures. Lightning and water, in a separate sphere. Now for the last one. Earth. Now, grab each sphere and spin them together, adding dark element chakra to hold it together.

"You guys had better get out, this is gonna make a mark." I can hear feet tapping as the Konoha ninja make a run for it.

"Who are you? Really?"

"Uchiha Karin. It's a pleasure to meet you, Madara-sama. Sorry, but it's time for you to leave this life." I run forward and thrust the attack at him, he manages to dodge me and I swing the attack around to hit him square on. I land on the forest floor and breathe heavily. Damn. I can barely see it. He escaped just before my attack did any fatal damage.

"Where did he go?"

"Kasha! Search for him! Now!"

"Yes, Karin-sama!" Wings flutter and the bird disappears.

"What was that attack? I've never seen anything like it!"

"I wanna know where you learned that Rasengan."

"Will you both just hush? I'm trying to do something!"

'_Yuzu! What's the situation there?'_

"What are you doing?"

"Checking on something. Just shut up."

'_Fine. Sasuke-sama has run out of chakra and Orochimaru was released. But it appears as though Itachi-sama has sealed him with the Mystical Sword. The sword of Totsuka!'_ Great, Sasuke doesn't stand a chance now! I get up, but fall back down. Did I use too much chakra at once? I think back. It takes a lot of chakra to use the Flaming Blade Rasengan, and so does the vortex.

I usually pull from the reserve created by the mark to do both of them in succession. The attack that used most of my chakra must have been the Silent Night that I used. There's no other way to explain it. And I can sense that Sasuke is out of chakra.

"Are you okay?" I nod.

"That technique used more chakra than I anticipated."

"What was it?"

"I call it Silent Night. I combined the six elements into one big attack and rammed him with it. You see the affect it had on the ground. Mostly because the bastard got away just before I got him. It would have left a bloody mess in the center of the debris if it had hit."

"How did you manage to combine…" I manage to get up and look around. That's strange. I can sort of see them.

"A lot of practice."

"What was that Rasengan that you used?"

"I added a fire change in nature to the regular Rasengan. I only managed to be able to add that and lightning to it. I haven't managed wind, which was the next element I was going to work on it with."

"Don't. There are some serious side effects to the wind based one."

"How do you know that? Unless you managed it."

"Yea."

"Um, Uchiha-san. Can you see?"

"No you twit! What gave you that idea?!"

"Calm down please. I'm just curious. Your eyes are strange."

"I know. Tsunade pointed it out to me before I came."

"Incoming!"

"What are you doing here, Yuzu?"

"It's Sasuke-sama! You have to hurry, Karin-sama!"

"Why couldn't you just report that from your location?!" I change forms and fly to the hideout. The damage is incredible! I follow Yuzu to the ground and change back. "Sasuke!" I run to his side and check his pulse. Good. He's alive.

"Itachi-sama is dead."

"Really? He actually managed it?"

"It would appear so. The seal binding me to Itachi-sama's chakra has been released."

"The only way for that to happen is if he's dead, correct?"

"Precisely, Karin-sama." I examine Sasuke as best I can. It feels like he got hurt pretty bad.

"Nee-chan?"

"Sasuke! Don't scare me like that!" He laughs, but the laughter turns into a coughing fit. "Shit." I clutch my side. What the hell?!

"Nee-chan?!" My rib hurts, I count the bones in my head. This is the same bone that is broken in Sasuke's ribcage! This is strange. I've never felt pain with him like this before. First with the eye and now this. I use my technique and breathe. That's better. "Nee-chan? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I've got a visual, but I have to keep tapping my foot to keep it. I can see slightly what I'm doing. I start using medical Ninjutsu. At least, I try to. I wiped out all of my chakra with those attacks. I collapse.

"Nee-chan!"


	11. Help

**Emotional Silence Part II 10- Help**

*Sasuke's POV*

"Nee-chan! Hey, wake up. You're hurting me. Nee-chan?!" I can barely move and she's on top of me. At least one of my ribs must be broken because it hurts like hell. "Hey! Get up!" Shit. Where's that bird? "Yuzu!"

"Yes, Sasuke-sama?"

"Go find the three that are in my team. Bring them here. Quickly!"

"Yes sir!" The bird flies off and I wait.

"Nee-chan, come on. Get up!" Great. What did she do to make her pass out like this? The only time this has happened was when I was so injured that one time and she didn't have enough chakra at the time to fully heal me. Was she fighting someone? That must have been difficult since she can't see anymore.

"What happened here?"

"Sasuke!" Perfect timing.

"Oy!"

"Is that Uchiha-san?"

"Yea, get her off of me!" Jugo picks her up and I manage to sit up. Damn. At least I managed to kill Itachi without her help.

"Are you okay?" I nod.

"Yea." I get up and wince. That rib…damn.

"What's wrong with Uchiha-san?"

"I'm not sure. But she needs to be taken home."

"That's too dangerous! We'll be seen!"

"Not necessarily."

"What do you mean?"

"In her bag, there should be a pair of scrolls. Both have the Uchiha seal on them. Yuzu, go to Konoha and find Neji. Tell him that Karin will be at the house."

"Yes sir!" He flies off and Karin pulls out the scrolls.

"Hand them to me." She does. I can't tell if the blood on my hands is mine or Itachi's, but either way, it will work. The only requirement for this is Uchiha blood. I open the first scroll and use the blood to mark a specific location in the house. Her room. On the second scroll, I mark the exact location in that spot, her bed. "Get the pencil and paper out of her bag as well, please." She used to always carry a pen and pad with her. Karin hands them to me and I write out a note.

'_I'm not sure what's wrong with her. She was trying to heal me and passed out. I think she might have been in a fight just before and used too much chakra. Please, don't tell anyone about this. I'm counting on you to take care of my sister. There's a possibility that I'll be coming back soon. Just as soon as I get something done. I'm sure that Karin will know what my plan is and she'll tell you if she wants. Again, thanks. –Sasuke._'

I fold up the paper and write his name on the front. "Now what?"

"Jugo, set her down between the scrolls." He nods and follows my instructions. I pull the ends of the scrolls open and closer to me, I set the note on her chest, and then I put my hands on the spaces and she disappears in a puff of smoke. The moment I roll the scrolls up, they disappear as well. "Let's get going."

"What are you planning now?"

*Neji's POV*

Why did she have to disappear like that?

"Neji-sama!" That's one of Karin's birds! Yuzu, I think.

"What?" I hold out my arm and he lands on my wrist.

"Karin-sama is at the house, she is unconscious, but apparently uninjured."

"Thank you for…who sent you? If she's unconscious."

"Sasuke-sama." I start running to the house, startling Yuzu, who flies off of my hand and follows me. We get to the house and I run inside. She must be in her room. I get upstairs and go inside. She's laying on the bed with a note on her chest. I set the note aside and touch her shoulder.

"Karin?" Her skin is cold. That's strange. I check for a pulse. No! That's why she's cold, I can't find a pulse. "Please, don't be dead." I put my ear to her chest and listen. Good. Her heart is still beating. It's faint, but her heart _is_ beating. "Yuzu, get Tsunade-sama and tell her it's urgent."

"Yes sir." He flies out of the house and I stare at Karin.

"Don't die, please."

*Sasuke's POV*

I have a bad feeling. It clicks. This feeling, it's slightly familiar. Because I've had this before. Every time that Nee-chan has almost died. I change course and start running towards Konoha. I hope I can make it in time. There won't be anything I can really do, but…I have to try.

"Sasuke! What are you doing?!"

"It doesn't matter!" They follow me, damn. No, it's not like they're really viewed as criminals, so it shouldn't matter. I wince at a sharp pain in my ribs but keep running. We're so far away from the village…I push myself to run faster.

'_Hang in there, Nee-chan.'_

*Neji's POV*

"What's wrong?" Tsunade-sama runs into the room and stares at me. Her gaze shifts to Karin and she gasps. "What happened?!"

"I don't know."

"Let me through." I nod and back up. Tsunade-sama starts examining Karin. I watch her. She backs up, shaking her head.

"What?"

"Her heart stopped. I can't do anything." I drop to my knees and stare at the floor. No.

*Karin's POV*

_Am I…dead? I can't feel anything. How can this be? Did I use so much chakra that it killed me?_

"_Hello?" It's pitch black. I can't see anything, not that I'm surprised. I've gotten used to there being no light. I…hope…I…can, maybe…I wonder if I can force myself back to life?_

_I'm not ready to die. I don't want to leave Neji or Sasuke. They need me. I can't leave the people I love behind. It's strange. Some people say that when you die, you see your life flash before your eyes. There's only blackness here._

"_Karin? Karin, sweetheart, wake up. You over did it during training."_

"_Oka…chan?"_

"_Yes dear?" I can see her face clearly now._

"_What are you doing here?"_

"_Silly girl, this is our house! Where else would I be?"_

"_Right, silly me." She smiles at me._

"_But you're right. I shouldn't be here. After all, I'm dead."_

"_What?" I thought this was a memory._

"_You remember don't you? That day, ten years ago. Your father and I have been watching you ever since. We never imagined that you would get so strong."_

"_I'm far from strong, Oka-chan."_

"_You've surpassed even our abilities. Of course you're strong!"_

"_Otou-san?!"_

"_Well of course. You didn't think I'd let your mother do this alone did you?"_

"_What are you two doing here?"_

"_You're our daughter. And it's not time for you to die. You have a destiny." I stare at them._

"_What do you mean?" Someone puts a hand on my shoulder._

"_You're supposed to help save the world."_

"_Itachi-niisan!" He smiles at me. He used to always smile at me like that…before. Especially when I would learn something quicker than he expected me to._

"_Both of you have gotten very strong."_

"_Dear, you need to go back."_

"_But how?"_

"_You have a strong will. And Sasuke's coming. He'll figure out how to help." I back up and stare at my family._

"_How am I supposed to help save the world?"_

"_Well, it's up to you. You're smart enough to figure it out."_

"_Now. If you two guys will leave us alone for a moment please…" They nod and back up._

"_Sure thing, Oka-san. But first, I need to say something."_

"_Okay, Itachi, but we're short on time so make it quick." He nods and steps toward me. I back up instinctively._

"_Sasuke told me that you couldn't see."_

"_Yea. So?"_

"_I have two things to say. First, I'm sorry."_

"_It's kind of hard to forgive murder, Itachi-niisan."_

"_I know, but still. And second…" He touches my eyes and I can't move. "Here I think it's more important now for you to be able to see." He backs up and I notice that his eyes have vanished. I can see clearer now. Otou-san and Itachi disappear._

"_Now. There's something that I want to give you." She puts her hands together and smiles at me._

"_Why?"_

"_Because, I think it's time. Your father has a gift for Sasuke as well, if he figures out how to get here."_

"_What are you talking about, Oka-chan?" She pulls her ring off and puts it in my hand. "Oka-chan…"_

"_This is yours now. I'm going to tell you something, so listen." I nod. "That young man out there, your friend from next door. You take care of him. Sasuke can protect himself now. That's obvious because he beat your brother. Also. Your eyes. You're a very special young lady. There are only two people with eyes like yours, and even then your eyes are even more unique. What I'm about to say is for you only. You can figure it out from there._

"_There are two people that stand to destroy the world as you know it. They have the concept of peace in mind, but their peace is a peace driven by fear, pain, and suffering. One has the power to destroy everything and everyone in the world, while the other is telling him what to do. You have the power to stop the first alone, but you'll need help to defeat the second."_

"_What power, Oka-chan? I'm just a regular person."_

"_Your eyes hold two of the three great ocular jutsu. I'm sure you know which ones I'm talking about. You're smart enough."_

"_Sharingan…and Rinnegan?" She nods and pats my hand._

"_That's the power that I'm talking about. You have even more chakra than any of us can imagine, almost as powerful a reserve as the Kyuubi, possibly even greater. And you've only begun to tap into it. Your eyes will give you the ability to perform godlike tasks. But you must learn to control it. The first step is to defeat the second Rinnegan user. He calls himself Pain and is the one that appears to control the Akatsuki. You already know the true leader."_

"_Uchiha Madara. Yes, he managed to dodge my new technique, Silent Night. But Oka-chan…"_

"_I have to go. You're smart enough to figure out your path. We'll be watching you, just like always."_

"_Arigatou, Oka-chan."_

"_You take care of him, okay. Oh, and you should be able to see when you open your eyes." I nod and she disappears. Everything turns from black to white._


	12. Life and Death

**Emotional Silence Part II 11- Live and Death**

*Sasuke's POV*

Almost to the house. I hope I'm not too late. I can't feel her. I've always been able to know that she was alright, and now…I have no idea either way. I jump over the fence surrounding the village and run across the roofs to the house. I open the front door and run up to Karin's room.

"What are you doing here?!" I stare at the woman by the bed and Neji looks at me, quite surprised to see me.

"What do you think I'm here for? Is she going to be alright?!" The woman looks at the ground and I notice a line of tears streaming from Neji's eyes.

"No." I walk to the bed and touch Karin's hand. She's cold. No, she can't die! I notice that her hand is clenched in a fist. That's odd. I open her hand and stare at the ring in her hand.

Oka-san's ring! That's impossible. How can she have Oka-san's ring? That ring was still on her finger when she was buried. Still, I didn't make it here in time to even try to help her. I drop to my knees and hit the floor.

"Damn it!" I can't believe this. I'm so stupid! I should have realized that she was in danger of dying and brought her here myself! I could have tried to figure something out then! Pain shoots through my chest and I wince. And on top of it all, I'm freaking injured. Wait a minute. I might be able to do something! I look up and search the room. Where's that stupid bird? Kasha flies through the open window and lands on the end of the bed.

"What's wrong with Karin-sama? She isn't answering any of us."

"You mean, the seal isn't broken?"

"No sir. Why would the seal be broken?"

"Then she's not dead." The seal for summoning the birds only breaks when that person dies. Maybe…she was able to communicate with me through thoughts; maybe I can do that as well. If I can find her and bring her back…just maybe…

"What do you mean? Her heart has stopped beating."

"That doesn't mean anything." I touch Karin's arm and close my eyes. If I concentrate on that strange link between us, I might be able to do it.

*Karin's POV*

"_Nee-chan! Where are you?!" That's Sasuke's voice! He figured out how to get here!_

"_Sasuke! Over here!" I can't see him, this light is too bright, but I can see a shadow coming towards me. At first, I think it's Sasuke, but when it gets closer to me, I realize that it isn't him. A person in a black cloak with the hood up walks closer to me._

"_Come here, child." That voice. It sounds evil. Deep, evil, and yet, somehow, quite captivating. I take a step towards the person, involuntarily. I look at my feet and see that I'm walking. "Come with me to the afterlife."_

"_No! I can't leave! Go away! Sasuke!! Help!" I can hear running, and I'm struggling to stop walking._

"_Nee-chan! Leave her alone!" Sasuke grabs my shoulders and stops me._

"_Leave me alone! I still have things to do!" The figure advances, extending a hand. That hand…it's familiar. When the hand makes contact with my face, gently cupping my cheek, it clicks. Neji! That's Neji's hand! I pull away. No! I won't be seduced by an illusion!_

"_What's wrong?" That's his voice too! "Karin?"_

"_NO!" I duck out of Sasuke's grip and run away from the figure. I look back and Sasuke isn't anywhere to be seen. I stop running and open my hand. That ring. Why did Oka-chan give me her ring? I slip it on my finger and gasp._

_The light vanishes and everything goes black again. But now, there's a light in the distance. I reach out and my hand makes contact with a wall. Am I in a tunnel? I start walking towards the light and stop. That guy in black was in the light. Maybe I shouldn't be going that way. I look back and see another light, and a shape blocking part of the light._

"_Karin! This way! Please!"_

"_Oka-chan?!" My hand burns slightly and I know what I'm supposed to do. I run towards the shadow. When I get closer, the light grows and the shadow becomes clearer. It is Oka-chan! No illusion this time, it's really her. She smiles and vanishes._

"_Here you go." I walk to the light and look around. I'm in a room. This isn't just any room though; it's the living room of our house!_

"_There she is! You made it!"_

"_Yea. Tell Oka-chan thanks for me, please."_

"_No problem. You kids should get back pretty quick. There's no telling when Death will come back for you while you're here."_

"_Otou-san, exactly where is here?"_

"_The In Between. There's no time for more talking. Keep up with those rings." I look at Sasuke's hand and notice that he's wearing Otou-san's ring now._

"_We will. How do we get out of here?"_

"_How did you get in, Sasuke? It's the same way." He nods and Otou-san disappears._

"_Let's go then." I nod._

"_Thank you for coming back." He smiles._

"_You're my sister. I'm not going to sit around and watch when you're in trouble." I laugh._

"_How are we doing this then?" He takes my hand._

"_Like this. Close your eyes and concentrate on your room."_

"_Is that how you got here?" He nods._

"_I concentrated on that bond that we have and I ended up here. Let's go." I nod._

"_Okay." We both close our eyes and concentrate._

*Neji's POV*

"What is going on?" Tsunade-sama checks Sasuke's pulse.

"That's strange. I can't find a pulse."

"What?"

"It doesn't make sense." Sasuke is the first to move. Tsunade-sama backs up and stares at him. "What the hell?!" This doesn't make sense. What happened here? He put his hand on Karin's arm and passed out. It's been ten minutes, just now he didn't have a pulse, and he's moving.

"Ow. Okay, that hurts." He rubs the back of his neck and winces. A few moments later, Karin's chest rises, like she's breathing. "That smarts. Oy! Nee-chan, get up!"

"Shut up and give me a second Sasuke. Gosh!"

"Karin! You're okay!" She opens her eyes and smiles at me.

"Of course I'm okay. You didn't think that I'd die _that_ easily did you?" She sits up and looks around. "Why do you two look like you're watching a pair of ghosts?"

"You were dead, Karin-san…"

"Oh! Well…that's a bit difficult to explain." Sasuke gets up and faces us. There's something different about both of them. I can't put my finger on what the difference is though. "Hey Sasuke, are you okay?"

"Yea, just a bit sore."

"Okay, you two have a lot of explaining to do."


	13. The Long and Drawn Out Explanation

**Emotional Silence Part II 12- The Long and Drawn Out Explanation**

*Karin's POV*

Great. How to explain? I guess we'll just have to answer as it goes.

"It's hard to explain."

"You can start by explaining what happened in the first place." Oka-chan was right, I can see perfectly clear.

"Well, as you already know, I left to take care of something."

"Yea, you left with the intentions of fighting someone that obviously you can't beat!" I sigh.

"I would have been able to beat him. I almost had him too, he just managed to somehow dodge one of my strongest attacks."

"So what happened after you left here?"

"Well…I went straight to help Naruto and them. I had Yuzu keeping an eye on Sasuke, so I wasn't worried about him. You have to understand that if I hadn't arrived when I did, we'd be trying to rescue Naruto from the Akatsuki. The attacks I used drained my chakra."

"But why…why did Sasuke send Yuzu to tell me where you were? How did he know?"

"I knew because she came to help me. I defeated Itachi and passed out."

"Yuzu notified me and I went to make sure he wasn't seriously hurt."

"She passed out in an attempt to heal me." Neji and Tsunade nod slowly.

"So, how did you get back here?"

"Probably the same way that I sent the dishes back to the house…" Neji nods, understanding completely.

"Huh?"

"There is a pair of summoning scrolls that I carry with me. The spell allows me to summon anything from the house and send it back. Though the technique will work for anyone in the Uchiha clan."

"So…"

"I sent her here using those scrolls and told Yuzu to let Hyuuga know where she was. I figured he would be the one that would manage to get help."

"And just now…what was that about?"

"Well…"

"Your hearts stopped. I checked. You were both dead." I realize that my hand is clenched around something and open my fist. Oka-chan's ring! I smile and put it on.

"I know that. And Death is a very tricky fellow."

"If that was even a guy. Neither of us got a good look at anything but that cloak."

"What are you two talking about?"

"When…Sasuke came to bring me back…a person in a black cloak came as well. He was wearing a hood and I couldn't see his face. And he said to come here. My…my body started moving and I couldn't do anything but walk towards him. He said to come with him to the afterlife. Then…"

"I stopped her."

"We both told him to leave me alone. And then…he touched my face…it was an illusion though…" I can't think about that. "I…I knew it was an illusion, but…"

"That guy used certain aspects of the person she loves most to try to trick her into going with him." Sasuke looks at Neji.

"I knew it was an illusion…and I ran away. There was a tunnel and…another person was there."

"Who?" I shake my head. I don't want to talk about the things that my family talked to me about. I don't really even want them to know that I saw my family.

"I…don't know. I just knew that it was someone that I could trust. I ran towards them and they disappeared. Then Sasuke found me again and we came back."

"And all that transpired where?"

"I'm not sure." Tsunade nods, seemingly satisfied with our answers.

"Now, I have a question for you, Sasuke."

"What?"

"Do you plan to stay?"

"No. I only came to see if I could help Karin. I still have things to do." He's talking about killing Madara I think.

"Where did you get those rings? I know you didn't have them before." Sasuke examines his hand.

"Well, I'll be damned."

"I don't know. It was in my hand when I woke up."

"Same here, I guess. I didn't even notice it." Tsunade starts for the door.

"Well, I have things to attend to." We nod and she leaves the room.

"I should get going too, Nee-chan."

"Sasuke, wait. What did Otou-san say to you before?"

"He said for me not to tell anyone, not even you. I'm sorry." I nod.

"Figures."

"Oh, he said something about you being able to see again." I nod.

"Perfectly clear. Thanks to Itachi-niisan."

"How?"

"I'm not sure really. He touched my eyes and then when he backed up, his eyes were gone and I could see twice as clear as I could before that. It was sort of fuzzy before."

"Whoa, so you lied about not knowing who was there?" I look at Neji and nod.

"Yea. It's not necessarily something that Tsunade needed to know."

"Both of our parents were there. But I didn't see Itachi."

"That's odd." Sasuke shrugs.

"I can understand why though."

"Yea. You _are_ the reason he was there in the first place. Speaking of which. You broke at least two ribs back there. Sit down." He nods and sits on the bed. I turn around and use medical Ninjutsu to heal him.

"So, how did you get Oka-san's ring?"

"She gave it to me."

"You racked up there didn't you? You got your sight back, _and_ Oka-san's ring." I smile and sit down.

"There."

"Thanks. I should head out." I nod and he starts for the door.

"Thanks, Sasuke." He smiles and leaves.

"So…you're okay now, right?" I nod.

"Yea. Perfectly fine."

"You got to see your parents again." I nod again.

"They haven't changed."

"What did they say?"

"Just that they've been watching over me and Sasuke since they died. What's that note?" I look at the bedside table and stare at the note. "That's Sasuke's handwriting." It has Neji's name on it. He picks it up.

"Oh, I think he sent this back here with you. I was so worried about you though, I haven't read it yet."

"So, read it." He nods and opens the note.

"Your brother's handwriting sucks." I nod.

"Yea, he has a steady hand when it comes to fighting, not writing." Neji laughs at my rhyme and reads the note aloud.

"_I'm not sure what's wrong with her. She was trying to heal me and passed out. I think she might have been in a fight just before and used too much chakra. Please, don't tell anyone about this. I'm counting on you to take care of my sister. There's a possibility that I'll be coming back soon. Just as soon as I get something done. I'm sure that Karin will know what my plan is and she'll tell you if she wants. Again, thanks. –Sasuke._"

"He plans to kill Uchiha Madara."

"How do you know that?"

"Madara-sama…he trained Itachi…and me. When Itachi killed the clan, Madara took care of the ones that Itachi couldn't. At the time, I didn't think about that. I thought that Itachi had killed his teacher, thinking that he couldn't learn anything more from him. But now, I'm positive that he's still alive. The thing behind Sasuke's revenge is 'restoring the clan', and the way that he sees that as happening is if he kills everyone involved in the slaughter. Another reason, I think, behind all of his antics is trying to prove that he can protect himself." But I don't have to worry about that now. He can take care of himself now.

"So, if he beat your brother…"

"I don't need to protect him anymore. He can take care of himself."

"So, what did your parents tell you?"

"I mostly talked to my mother."

"What did she say?"

"Most of what she said, I need to keep to myself, but I guess I can tell you part of what she told me."

"And?" I look down at my hand and I know that I'm blushing. "It's about me?" I nod.

"Yea. She forgot your name, I think. She called you the 'young man from next door'." He laughs.

"Figures. If I remember correctly, she could never remember my name before."

"You're right. I had forgotten that. Anyways…"

"What did she say about me?"

"She told me to take care of you. I think she's reading a bit too much into things…"

"Why would that be? I love you. And apparently, you love me too. Right?" I nod.

"Yea. I do."

"Then I think she's got the right idea. Since I intend to marry you."

"What?!" He smiles and puts his hand under my chin.

"You heard me."

"I know…but…"

"So?"

"So, what?"

"Will you marry me? Or do I have to try harder?" I smile and pull his hand away from my face.

"Of course I'll marry you!" I lean forward and kiss him.

"When that guy tried to take you away, it was me…wasn't it?" I nod.

"It was your hand…and he said something, using your voice. But…I knew that it was a trick."

"What's wrong with your eyes?"

"I don't know…let me look in a mirror and see." I get up and walk to my vanity table. I look in the mirror and almost gasp. "It _is_ Rinnegan!"

"Rinnegan? As in the legendary Rinnegan that only shows up when the world is corrupt and tainted with evil?" I nod.

"That's the one."

"And you use sharingan."

"Yep."

"That's strange."


	14. Notice

**HIATUS/REWRITE NOTICE**

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! Rewrite Notice !

Because I have been improving my writing style and I am dissatisfied with the current state of the following stories:

Cherry Blossom's Late Bloom, Dark Blade, Digital Dream, Eagle Spark, Emily and the Olympians (To be retitled 'Raising a Hero'), Lost in Spira (To be retitled 'The Secret Summoner'), Narissa and the Olympians (To be retitled 'Unwilling Hero'), Sword Transcending Time (To be retitled 'Queen Blades'), Tsubasa no Tenshi Angel Wings (To be retitled 'Tenshi no Tsubasa o'), Yuuki's Story

I'm rewriting them from almost scratch. I am also re-playing/reading/watching the series this is based on so as to be more accurate in non-au situations.

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! Hiatus Notice !

Because I'm either rewriting the story or it's on my hard drive that is currently out of commission, all of my stories except completed stories and:

Tails of a Copy Cat

Are on hiatus until further notice. I promise that I will have my hard drive fixed as soon as possible so I can get back to work on my older stories.

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! THIS CHAPTER WILL BE DELETED WHEN I ADD NEW CONTENT !


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